Chapter 28: Champion

It was truly awe inspiring, a halo of red bolts hurtling towards the ground. HK-217 hadn't observed the fleet unleash their wrath upon occupied sections of Kursk. It was a show of force targeted at areas where Astartes were suspected to be. Fredrick had ordered it, stating to HK-217,

"If they are such formidable warriors, we shall see if they can up to naval gunfire."

Hk-217 was screening the entire right flank of B7782's army wide thrust, raining down the full fury of the Star Hammer's arsenal onto any counter attacking Word Bearer's forces.

The Word Bearers fleet was moving to engage, but they were not in the same shape they started in, and by this time, HK-217 had the time to repair and rearmed his fleet. It was one of the elements of a planetary siege that he proven again and again during the Clone War, the defender has an immense advantage as they have the planetary infrastructure to support them, and if the enemy cannot blockade the entire world, or even intercept the majority of shipments into it, they will lose.

HK-217 knew that this would provoke their fleet into another engagement, and he was ready. Both the Confederate and the Star Hammer were ready, their garrisons ready to repel any boarding parties, and screened by their escorts.

HK-217 stood at the helm of the Star Hammer, and could see the efforts the bridge crew, in particular the Master of Gunnery drawing solutions upon the enemy cruisers. He spoke, a data transmission having just reached him from Fredrick's own coded frequency.

"Bring the Star Hammer to the lead position, we will close with the enemy and destroy them. Lord Fredrick has authorized extermination protocols against this foe."

"Shall I relay this to the rest of the fleet?"

"Ensure that all captains are aware of what we should expect from this battle. All droids tasked with garrison and launching boarding actions will not take prisoners from enemy crew. They are all to be put to the sword."

The communications officer grunted an affirmative and turned to his console. HK-217 could see formations of Vulture Droids arranged in picket formations and beyond them, sensors could detect enemy star fighter formations forming up, while dagger shaped vessels moved towards them.

At their head, the enemy flag ship a Devastation Class could be seen, a quartet of escort vessel arranged around it. They had lost an escort squadron by HK-217's count of losses, in addition, none of the ships should have more than rudimentary repairs conducted to them.

The other vessel approached, thanks to Imperial intelligence, it had been identified as a Murder class cruiser, and with it came a Hellbringer CL and a pair of escort class vessels.

"Prepare to take fire, we will close with and destroy as much of the enemy fleet as possible, if they rout, allow any fleeing ships to escape. Our goal is to preserve the fleet and to rid our stellar neighborhood of this trash. Let them flee."

HK-217 could feel it as the subordinate commanders sent up acknowledgements, the Tactical Droid captains of the Frigates and Light Destroyers operating perceptively slower than he did. As one of the highest grade Super Tactical droids, a status shared by only B7782 they had many features the others didn't.

"We are entering the range of their heavy Lance batteries!" An OOM droid shouted.

"Brace systems for impact, have the picket screen spread out, have our bomber wings concentrate upon the cruisers, targeting weapons batteries and hangers. Deploy sabotage droids as soon as contact as made, bring those cannons offline!"

A blast hit the Star Hammer, an immense beam of light impacted the shield, yet the Lurcehulk kept coming, far too massive to be slowed by one shot. The Star Hammer reached flank speed and edged ahead of the Confederate. It had been built a one off model of Lucrehulk and it showed. The extra tonnage that had once housed many of the foundry and fabrication equipment that now dotted the surface of Kursk and had been emplace in the Orbital Station had been put to good use by HK-217.

They began to reach the envelope of effective turbolaser fire range. The prow cannons of the Munificents returned fire, their salvos answering the punishing fire that the Lucrehulks had slogged through.

Flights of Droid fighters danced across the space, and their multitudes swarmed over the Chaos fleet, whose own fighters had been depleted in engagements with the Confederate navy.

Hyena bombers flocked towards the enemy, proton torpedoes leaving red streaks through the ether as they flew their course. Proton bombs, glowing blue spheres as they impacted on the hulls of the Infidel Raiders.

Iconoclasts surged forward, spewing torrents of missiles while the Resculants and the Providence moved to intercept.

Turbolaser fullisades clashed with Macrocannon shells as the two Lurcehulks dueled with the Chaos vessels.

"Have all starboard batteries engage the enemy flagship, cripple it and then dispatch boarding parties."

Two flights of droid fighters reacted to his command, barreling down upon the ship, hundreds of missiles fired into the ship, each too small to even penetrate its hull armor, but that wasn't their purpose. A cloud of Buzz droids began swarming over the Devastation class cruiser.

Each droid reacted to a signal broadcast from the Star Hammer, like a swarm of insects began swarming towards the hangars and gun batteries.

While the Star Hammer withstood the pounding of its Lance Batteries and Vulture droids fought with Chaos interceptors the little droids did their work.

HK-217 commanded the fleet and his battleship with the timing that only a droid could manage, pounding the enemy vessels with turbolaser fire and ion blasts.

While the warships engaged in the space above Kursk, the ground battles continued. Destruction rained as both sides unleashed the full fury of their arsenals. Cultist hordes boiled towards the Droid advance, driven by the lash of their masters, and the desperation of the closing noose B7782 had created. Fallen Knights spear headed assaults, full Lance formations engaging massed CIS armor. Leman Russ Tanks and Predators both surged forward and the Word Bearers themselves took to the field,cutting broad swaths into the Droid Army which held B7782's flank.

Meanwhile the Droids unleashed numerous chemical weapons, Gas Droids covering the advance of droid phalanxes, while defoliator tanks cleared wide sections of the battlefield of life. B3 Ultra Droids were seen in numbers unwitnessed since the bloody fighting at the Gates of Hive Irkust, and their numbers had only grown during the period of peace prior to the Word Bearers invasion.

Artillery shook the planet's surface, yet none of the surface batteries equalled the Star Hammer's bombardment, its guns had cleared the path of advance for B7782, obliterating tens of thousands of the hardened corps of trooper who had been positioned to launch a counter attack upon the droids.

D-100 droids charged into the Cultists, the immense droids shrugging off the light weaponry of their soldiers, supported by the even larger B3s. It was absolute turmoil.

This brutish fighting is where the sheer strength of a Battle Droid proved its worth over the cultist chaff. A B2 battle droid could rip the arms off a man and the larger D-100 series didn't even bother, smashing in rib cages or simply crushing the spinal columns of those who feel beneath their iron heels.

They had a mission, to engage the enemy Astartes units on equal terms. The guidance of the Super Tactical Droid had been clear, they were to clear a path forward. Their imperative was to destroy the Astartes.

D-8834 was at the head of the group, it had been one of the D-100HA submodels, a local commander unit for the other D-100 droids. They were fast, as like all droids, tireless.

It knew no fear, and its Durasteel and Phrik armor would protect it from all but heavy ordnance. Visibility was low, so much smoke and ash clouded the air that it had to switch to thermal sights to pick out the various pockets of resistance.

It fired, its double barreled repeating blaster cutting down a fleeing soldier. The others fired as well. Blaster bolts leaving charred holes in the cultists. This group had none of the armor and heavy weaponry some units had, and their autoguns simply tore up the outer layer of their paint. It was even less effective against the B3 Ultra Battle Droids, hulking constructs that could fight off light tanks at close range.

The droids kept coming forward, the tip of a divisional spearhead, entire battalions of droid following in their wake.

Until they meet the Astartes in battle.

Tol Bedar fought with a ferocity that belied his tactical acumen. He was a war leader, and his place was on the front lines. He cut down droids with his Reaper Autocannon and lead his terminator Cadre forward. They were all that stood between the First Acolyte and the enemy.

He had sworn dark oaths to the Legion and he would not fail in his task.

He pushed the Droids back. His Knights driving in and out of Armored formations, striking suddenly from the flanks when the droids attempted to engage their counterparts.

His limited aircraft did what they could but Droid fighters clouded the skies and they could merely provide local superiority.

One such spot was above his area and he murmured a prayer to the Dark Gods for this grace.

A pair of Dreadnoughts stood flanking him, their occupants held fast by their faith and were not the gibbering monsters that Helbrutes became.

They laid down punishing fire to support their brothers, an advancing line of fire which frustrated the repeated counter assaults.

A quad bolter manned by a pair of Astartes was shredding battle droids, many of the weapons of a Legion proving their worth against this massed opponent.

Tol Bedar had chosen his stand well.

It was at that moment that Tol Bedar saw his counter parts, they came over a rise and came towards him. The forms of the droid's Dreadnoughts towering over even these, and the horde of lesser battle droids that followed in their wake.

"Hold the line brothers, they shall crash like a wave upon us, but we will endure! The strength of our faith shall preserve us. We honor the Gods with this bloodshed.

Bolts and shells tore into the droids, rippling the shields of the D-100s but destroying the B1s and B2s that made up the front ranks. Purple blasts struck some of the other Astartes around Tol Bedar, bolts which could puncture the thin areas of Power armor in a single shot, and as he saw, with repeated impacts, kill them.

A group of Droid gunships crashed nearby, tearing long furrows in the ground, before their leftover ammunition detonated.

The explosion blew away a great deal of the haze temporarily and he saw just how many droids were coming upon them, like a wave of metal.

"They know no number," he said and gritted his teeth. The tyranids didn't either and he had faced them down as well.

He cut down them down in droves, his terminator cadre acting as a rock upon which the droids broke like a wave. Power weapons cut down many of them, bolts and plasma shots accounted for many more.

Gouts of flame from those of the Anointed with heavy flamers carved burning streaks through the droids. Yet more and more kept coming, thousands of the frail B1s climbed the ridge and joined their fellows, pouring blaster fire upon the Terminators. The skies above them had become dark with ashes from whatever target the enemy warship had leveled.

The cacophony of war was heard upon this place, Vindicators firing their demolisher cannons into massed droid ranks and several batteries of Medusa cannons manned by the Word Bearer's slave added their voices to the music.

"Brothers today we anoint ourselves in sacrifice and the glory of war! They will be beaten back, for we bear the unconquerable word of our father. Every one that falls is praise to our father."

They had faced down their counterparts in the enemy army. Hulking war droids which were larger and bulkier than even a Terminator. Naturally however, it did not save them from being pulped by the fists of the Dreadnoughts.

The ancients held the line, engaging their armor, their lascannons tearing into the hulking metal constructs.

"Die die DIE," one of them screamed. It had large chunks of its hull missing, yet the dreadnought would not yield.

"Call upon the helbrutes, we need more support, Phelgation, send us the insane to deliver us!

A confirmation came, and he steeled himself, blaster fire was singeing his armor and blackening it. He stared into the fact of a D-100 droid, its mockery of a powerfist glowing purple with crackling energy. He caught the strike, and was pushed back by the droid, with his free hand, ge grabbed it blaster arm, with was firing a stream of blaster bolts past his head.

Tol Bedar hurled the assault droid backwards, and bent down to grasp a discarded combi bolter, the Terminator who had wielded it was lying face upward in a shell crater, they had been force to take cover when the droids had called in artillery upon them.

He looked up as his shield absorbed the impact from a disruptor impact, the droid was coming for him. He fired a burst from the combi bolter, its twin barrels sending a storm of bolts towards the machine.

It came surging towards him, and when it swung, Tol Bedar was ready, he didn't attempt to block the strike, but shifted and rammed the bayonet of the combi bolter into the the arm joint of the machine.

It hit him with a back hand, and the current of power that coursed through his armor was agonizing.

He lost his grip upon the combi bolter and stumbled back. His chest plate had been blacked and several rents had been put into the metal and ceramite, but his plate remained unbroken.

He braced as the droid charged, its movements hampered by the combi bolter lodged in its arm. Tol Bedar evaded the blow, using his unencumbered hand to push its electrofist to the side and swung his powerfist into its side.

Like a crimson meteor it struck the droid in its weakened section and

The droid spoke, it voice deep and eager sounding.

"More of us are coming, our lord will scourge you from the world. Martyr protocols engaging."

It had suffered critical damage, several of its batteries had been ruptured by this last strike, the droid had taken a beating in this battle. Yet it possessed enough strength for one last act.

It grabbed ahold of Tol Bedar, it fist closing around his forearm.

He struggled but he couldn't pry its fingers off, and it prevented him from using his powerfist. Yet he felt as it weakened, but as its struggles weakened, he saw the purple light that heralded its energy attacks growing in intensity, past the point where it had discharged before.

He realized what the droid intended and fought all the harder to free himself but as the droid grew slack, the weight of the machine kept him from throwing it off him, and its grip never slacked. It made one final movement, its red slit photoreceptor orienting towards him, before its glow dimmed and died.

Tol Bader, as close to panic as a space marine can get, looked about for something or someone to save him, but the remaining dreadnought was occupied, being harried by other droids, no help was coming from that quarter.

He steeled his nerves, his super human physiology and psychology asserting calm over him, and he grabbed the combi bolter and emptied its remaining stock of bolts into the droid, shattering its arm at the shoulder.

Two things happened in that moment, Tol Bader stumbled, the weight of the droid's arm still encumbering him, and the electrofist released its charge.. A storm of crackling energy burning him, the pain of it was indescribable.

More battle droids were coming and he couldn't move, his armor wouldn't respond to commands.

It had paralyzed the spirit of his armor. But he was no lesser legionary to succumb to such a thing. Grinding joints and the dead weight of the machine muscles of his Terminator plate slowed him, but he rose. It was by faith and his gifts from the Dark Gods that Tol Bader was able to stand. It would've been his last act as well. A Dwarf Spider droid sighted him.

"I give my life for the blessed Father!" He roared, spitting his defiance at the soulless constructs advancing towards him.

Its gun began to glow and in that final rush of adrenal, Tol Bedar murmured a prayer, beseeching the gods for the strength to slay one last foe before his skull was added to the ever growing throne, his body to fertilize new growth in undying garden, his mind to the endless fortress and his passions to the gates of paradise.

A sudden cacophony shattered his moment of silence and returned him to the crucible of war. One ponderous footfall signalled his salvation

A hail of auto cannon shells had shattered the Dwarf Spider Droid.

"The Long War will not end for you today brother! Rejoice for I am your deliverance!"

One massive claw grasped his armor, and the Dreadnought roared its defiance to the droids.

"They will not have you brother, I have seen too many of our legion fall today."

Tol Bedar was awed, he could barely move in his armor, save for his head.

"Do not worry, I may fall but I have died once already."

Blaster bolts were impacting the Dreadnought's armor and it was being targeted by tanks.

Nearby Chaos Space Marines advanced to reach better positions, bolters ripping apart the lesser battle droids.

The ground began to shake.

"The Damned are coming, may they find glory in an end that will honor the Gods!"

Twenty Helbrutes came, herded by a pair of Warpsmiths aboard a Rhino.

They fell upon the battle droid division. Flailing tentacles, brutish fists and hammers, along with chatters of gun fire from auto cannons and combi bolters sounded the devastation they brought.

Tol Bedar saw one, charge into a Droid Dreadnought, flinging itself onto the droid and tearing it with its fists.

They were crazed and terrible machines. Each one crewed with an Astartes who had sinned against the Dark Gods, more than one a thin bloodied loyalist who had been interred as punishment.

They were destructive but little more reliable than a Daemon engine against most foes. It was under their assault and the firepower of the guns of the Word Bearers that the Droid advance halted.

They were unlike Brother Avernus who had fallen in battle against the Ultramarines, his last act being to kill the Emperor blinded Captain who had been about to kill Dark Apostle Adramalech. His reward had been the Dreadnought shell he now resided in.

The position formidable but outmatched by the sheer scale of the droid onslaught, this knot of resistance was like a stone in a river. Nearby positions had fallen, lacking the Astartes support they succumbed to B7782's army.

Yet he couldn't claim victory while this position held. Its guns watched over several nearby fordings and prevented him from supporting his forward most elements. In addition to this, as the terrain began to shift them into tighter space as they approached the forested regions, the droids lost much of their range advantage.

"I will summon one of the Warp Smiths to attend to you."

"Thank you brother, may you bear Lorgar's blessing.

One of the Warpsmiths approached, the other was busy corralling the Helbrutes.

"Your armor will need a new power source, several others I have seen have been similarly affected. I can retrieve a charger from the Rhino."

It took them some time but soon enough Tol Bedar was once again under his own power. His armor would take longer to fix, and for now he went about in it despite the damage it had sustained against the D-100.

He was redeploying forces, and in fact several groups of cultists had been recovered from the pocket, escaping or breaking through before it could be completely secured. Phelgathon would have uses for the ones which had broken down in the fighting, as the children of the Gods could use them as easy conduits.

Author's note:

I am rewriting the original chapters to this story to bring it more in line with the direction of the later chapters and to better support some of the events I have occur narratively. In addition to improve the writing quality.

Hope you all enjoy!

Panzerfront